Microsoft has unveiled a new Surface Pro 3 device at a press event in New York City today. Like the previous Surface tablets it still includes a kickstand, but Surface chief Panos Panay says it's designed to remove the conflict of buying a laptop or a tablet. The kickstand on the device is multi-stage, and the device is just 9.1mm thick. "This is the tablet than can replace your laptop," claims Panay. Microsoft has moved to a 12-inch screen on the Surface Pro 3 with a 3:2 aspect ratio and HD display, but the new tablet also has thin bezels with a silver and black design. Microsoft will start accepting pre-orders on the Surface Pro 3 tomorrow starting at $799.

It's an amazing piece of hardware, and Microsoft really deserves praise for the amount of power it has managed to pack in such a slim and light package, but the same could be said of the previous Surface Pro - and that one hasn't exactly taken the market by storm either. The problem, is software - something Microsoft was remarkably hush-hush about during the unveiling.

Something else Microsoft was hush-hush about: Windows RT and ARM. No new RT/ARM-based Surface device, and I have a feeling that particular experiment has met its end today.

if you compare them to a thinkpad x240 with similar specs the prices are on par

Still bloody expensive. I saw an AMD powered HP 11,6" laptop running Windows 8 for AUD299 on the weekend. I would need to spend over AUD2000 to get a Surface pro 3 with the same storage.

These expensive lightweight laptops with high-res displays and high end CPUs are usually overpriced toys purchased (with shareholders money) just to impress other executives.

My i3 laptop rarely exceeds 10% CPU usage. The idea that any executive needs an i7 to web browse, watch a video or display a Powerpoint presentation is laughable.[One of my friends bought the top of the range i7 Macbook Pro when he does nothing but web browsing.]